Dragonkin (race)

This article is about the Dragonkin race. For other types of Dragonkin, see

The dragonkin are a race of powerful dragon-like creatures that originated from the previous cycle of the universe. On the main land of Gielinor, they were known to be powerful and malevolent creatures that spread destruction wherever they went.

History

Prior to Gielinor's First Age, the dragonkin had escaped the destruction of their home world, caused by the Elder Gods during an event known as the Great Revision. As they arrived on Gielinor, they would begin exploring the world and creating a new civilisation. But this all crumbled as Kerapac created a machine that angered one of the Elder Gods, Jas. After destroying the machine and most of their settlement, Jas cursed the dragonkin, bonding them to a artefact known as the Catalyst. As such, their civilisation would be no more, as each faction of the race would find their own way of escaping the curse. While some attempted to investigate a way to remove the curse or fled their bodies, others decided to hibernate, in hope that the curse decays over time.

Sometime during Gielinor's First Age, a group of dragonkin, Brakka, Lacrussa, Rasthin, Avisk, and the seer Viika would arrive to Ashenfall in hope to find a way to escape the curse. They learned of the region's power, its anima, where they could harness the power to not only ignore some of the curse's pain, but also build a new home. The dragonkin here started creating dragonkin vaults all over the continent. To protect these vaults, the dragonkin filled the vaults with traps and vault guardians, who sought to prevent the lesser races (e.g., humans, goblins, etc.) from entering the vaults. However, Avisk was concerned about whether the vault guardians possessed a soul and if they had the potential to be more than defensive and labour-producing. Brakka willfully ignored his doubts and created vault guardians for each vault, making their underground creations more secure.

Some time after creating the vaults, the dragonkin used the nearby anima and other magical properties to create various dragons and wyrms, including Velgar and Imaru. Lacrussa would use bloodwood sap to keep the dragons shackled to her will, spreading this knowledge to other dragonkin. However, Viika disapproved of creating and enslaving the dragons to build the dragonkin's structures, as They saw the negative impact and destruction that the dragons could cause in the future. The rest ignored Viika and kept creating more dragons. Amongst these creations, is Brakka's Folly.

The God Wars eventually spread to Ashenfall during the Third Age, Lougrim, known as the moon goddess and the High Queen of the Garou had made an alliance with the dragonkin Brakka, in exchange for her assistance in their future experiments. When the garou were losing the battle during the Human-Garou War against the Saradominists and goblins, Brakka offered his dragons. After this exchange, the dragons would be unleashed and start pushing the opposing forces back. Bandos would soon intervene, but would be defeated by Velgar due to arrogance. After the war, Brakka rewarded Velgar by keeping and chaining him so that they all could rebuild the damaged fortresses that were broken during the Human-Garou War. After the war, Kuldra would be created, thanks to Lougrim's assistance. She would witness the torture that her children received and planned to rebel against the dragonkin. Kuldra started recruiting not only her own children, but also other dragons to break free from the dragonkin's enforced slavery upon the dragons. Kuldra unleashed an attack on the Dragonkin. Kuldra targeted Brakka and devoured his anima-rich soul, and the rest of the dragonkin presumably followed.

After presumably wiping out their creators, the dragons would now rule over Ashenfall, with Kuldra as their queen.

References

↑ Journal entry of Dragonkin Diary Page, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "This continent is remarkable. It is flush with energy that seeps into the stone, the trees, the water, and even the air, and it feels alive with possibility. The creatures here are transformed, taking on aspects both elemental and primal. What wonderful possibilities this place offers. I can do a lot with this continent. The stone looks sturdy, the metal firm. Even the wood feels as though I could make it last centuries before it rots into nothing. It is the perfect place to create a new home. To fashion the foundations of the next dragonkin city."
↑ Journal entry of Dragonkin Journal Page, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "This continent could be home to a kingdom. A new start, a new Orthen. One not chained down by the weakness and arrogance of our elders. The first, great, Dragonkin empire? The stone here is sturdy; magical energies imbue it with a strength unlike any other on this pitiful planet. They can be tamed and shaped, even made to defy gravity itself. The magic Rasthin showed us in more than just power; it's understanding. I listen to the stone, and I know how to shape it. It's as simple as reaching down and telling it how it should be."
↑ Journal entry of Dragonkin Vault, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Hidden across Ashenfall are the Vaults, the ruined remains of dragonkin research. Each contains lost knowledge or riches, sealed away so that none but their jealous masters may possess them. Paranoid and wary of intrusion by the "lesser races", the Dragonkin of Ashenfall filled each of the vaults with an array of deadly traps and they created servitor guardians."
↑ Journal entry of Vault Archon, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "It was Avisk who raised the question of whether the vault guardians had souls. They weren’t intelligent and were useful for little more than manual labour and defence. Yet, they possessed a spark of creativity that Avisk argued was a sign of something more profound. Lacrussa dismissed him; of course, they were tools, nothing more."
↑ Journal entry of Dragon Tooth, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "In the Highlands of Ghornfell lay the bones of titan wyrms. These dread creatures were once the pride of the dragonkin forces. Massive beasts with wingspans that blotted out the sun and claws that could tear down a fortress. They were destroyed in a cataclysmic battle against a powerful mage who commanded lightning and summoned a terrible storm that still rages to this day."
↑ Journal entry of Bloodwood Sap, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "This sap can be used to amplify feelings, to convey anger, fear or hatred, across a much greater range. The dragonkin Lacrussa was very fond of this medium, and used it’s power to shackle dragons to her will."
↑ Journal entry of Dragonbone Dagger, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Viika was never fond of creating dragons, they thought the process was cruel and unbecoming. When an egg was laid, Viika saw in that moment both the egg and the dragon it would become. They saw past and presence at the same time, and they grieved the creature before it had even hatched. They pleaded with their sibling, and with the other Dragonkin, to change their treatment of the beasts. But Viika’s curse, like so many Seers, was to be ignored by their kindred."
↑ Journal entry of Iron Greataxe, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "It should have been easy. Yet Velgar’s stone-touched flesh turned away Bandos' blows, and his poisonous breath leeched Bandos’ strength. Bandos cut a great scar down Velgar’s side, yet it was not, and the counterattack sent Bandos reeling."
↑ Journal entry of Bloodblight Cape, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "He nearly succeeded. Bandos wrapped his arms around the dragon’s serpentine neck and dug his fingernails beneath the scales. Velgar, in his writhing fury, called down a poison-filled rock from the heavens and cast it at Bandos, striking him in the temple. As the god reeled, he released Velgar, allowing the dragon to breathe a jet of anima-infused poison, at the unsteady god. Still wavering from the blow, Bandos breathed in the toxins and felt weakness for the first time in centuries."
↑ Journal entry of Velgar, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Brakka rewarded his brutality with yet more chains. When the conflict dulled, Velgar was made to haul stone and metal, so that Brakka could rebuild damaged fortresses."
↑ Journal entry of Fractured Cape, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "A single tower that rose as far as the eye could see. Forged through his own power, and the blood, sweat and tears of garou slaves."
↑ Journal entry of Velgar, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "It is perhaps not wonder, therefore, that he accepted Kuldra's scheme without hesitation. The first to join her war, aside from her own child. She taught him to absorb the power of the anima font, transforming him into a dragon infused with the might of the earth itself."
↑ Journal entry of Fractured Cape, RuneScape: Dragonwilds. "Kuldra, the godeater, crushed him beneath her great claw and feasted on his anima-rich soul. Stealing Brakka’s power for herself."